Florida steals one

[Weagle74 0]

Dee Finlfy SS (4 star Rivals.com) from Auburn HS gave his verbal to Florida today.... F'n sucks

[AUman43 5]

I don't understand how CTT and staff could let this one get away. You can bet that if he had lived in Tuscaloosa he would have gone to Bammer. Perhaps he just wanted to get away from home...Who knows?

[AuburnGrad02' 0]

We've still got a long way to go with this one.

[WinCrimson 61]

This shocked me. I figured AU would get the hometown guy.

[Friedchickenman 0]

Florida will probably take a few more from the state of Alabama this year, but yes it hurts to see a good one go right from your backyard.

[AFTiger 282]

Sometimes boys want to go away to school.

[Aubie16 1]

I don't understand how CTT and staff could let this one get away. You can bet that if he had lived in Tuscaloosa he would have gone to Bammer. Perhaps he just wanted to get away from home...Who knows?

[metafour 4,969]

I havn't been active much as I'm currently on vacation in Sweden with little access to a computer, but I'll tell ya that this is pretty shocking. I wouldn't give up hope as this appears to be a decision that came out of nowhere (I'm surprised that he'd pull a shocker this early in the process) so we'll have to see how it plays out over the next few months.

Let the instate pressure build up for a little while, remember Michael Goggans? I'm not saying that Finley will finish here but you can bet that we wont go out without a fight. Florida will have a hard time keeping this one.

[DKW 86 7,428]

From day one we have heard that he was very anxious to leave his home town. I dont know about any family troubles etc. but he experessed the desire to see the world to many in Auburn.

Wish him the best. Maybe he will decide later to stay home.

[WAR-MATT 2]

There's a lot of recruiting to be done between now and Feb.

Auburn High's Finley chooses Florida

Collin Mickle / Staff Writer

June 18, 2007

For Dee Finley, the search is over.

Or is it?

Finley, the Auburn High safety who is the area’s top prospect, verbally committed to Florida on Saturday, according to several Internet reports, including one on ESPN.com.

But Finley, who visited Florida over the weekend, hasn’t given any interviews since his supposed commitment.

And at least one member of Finley’s support team believes reports of a commitment are premature.

"He had a great trip down to Florida, and I think he’s very excited about it," Auburn High head coach Tim Carter said. "I don’t really know that he’s come out publicly with a commitment."

Rivals.com rates Finley as a four-star prospect, the nation’s No. 2 safety and the No. 79 overall prospect in the Class of 2008. The AHS star is one of Auburn University’s top targets this recruiting season.

But - if you believe the Internet - the Gators struck first, taking advantage of Finley’s desire to leave home for college.

"For some people, it’s probably true that they don’t want to leave the state," Finley told Florida fan Web site Gatorbait.net last month. I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily true with me."

If Finley committed, he is the second prospect to verbally commit to the defending national champions.

Auburn has five commitments, but none with Finley’s credentials or national profile.

But whether he committed or not, recruiting analysts agree it’s not over yet.

"I haven’t talked to him, but my intuition tells me his recruitments far from over," said Bryan Matthews of Auburnsports.com.

"There are still seven months to go until Signing Day. Auburn and a number of other schools are going to continue to recruit Dee very hard."

The recruiting process can be a high-pressure situation, with coaches and reporters constantly calling prospects.

Carter knows about the stresses of big-time recruiting, and he’s doing everything he can to make sure Finley’s recruitment is as easy as possible. But that can be easier said than done.

"I think it’s very difficult," Carter said. "These kids need as much counseling as we can provide, from their parents, their families, their coaches.

"It’s a very difficult process for them. It’s their future on the line."

Verbal commitments are non-binding. Recruits often change their minds during the process, as AU has already found out.

Wideout Thearon Collier, a South Florida native who committed to AU in April, changed his mind after receiving a scholarship offer from hometown Miami. He is now expected to sign with the Hurricanes.

Could Finley have a similar change of heart?

"All along, he’s been looking for the right place to fit him," Matthews said. "Right now, he feels he’s found that place in Florida.

"But plenty of other schools - including Auburn - are going to try to convince him to look at them."

Finley has more than a dozen scholarship offers from football powerhouses, including AU, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Miami.

cmickle@oanow.com | 737-256

OA-News

[TitanTiger 20,499]

I don't understand how CTT and staff could let this one get away. You can bet that if he had lived in Tuscaloosa he would have gone to Bammer. Perhaps he just wanted to get away from home...Who knows?

And you gained this amazing amount of insight from...your weekly LSD trip?

I recall that Courtney Taylor could have practically hit UAT with a rock from his high school and where did he end up?

I wish people would quit spouting off and making s*** up when something doesn't go the way they hoped.

[AUesquire 1]

The positive thing is that CTT and company wouldn't have to drive very far to put the all out blitz on this guy.

Have no fear. They have methods to make him see the error of his ways. "You must sign ze papers"

[TDAuburn 2]

Florida probably had Halle Berry show him around on his recruiting trip.

[AUesquire 1]

Florida probably had Halle Berry show him around on his recruiting trip.

Okay, I'd commit too.

[boyjeddah 1]

At least he was honest when he said he liked Orange and Blue...

[BiggestAUfan 0]

Sorry, but I don't have a lot of confidence we'll get Dee back. I was REALLY looking forward to him and McNeil prowling the secondary for us ala Jesse Daniels/LaRon Landry for LSU over the last several seasons making it all but imposible for a WR to dare to go over the middle...

[GalensGhost 0]

I heard some recruiting moron on the radio who basically said that any recruit who had Auburn on his list but had committed somewhere else was secure and highly unlikely to change, but he listed all the ones who had Alabama on their list but had verballed to another school as "wide open" in their recruiting.

My point is who cares? Those who want to come to AU will come. Those who don't won't. And AU will do just fine.